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ENROLLMENT UPDATE: 3.3 MILLION — Yesterday was one of those days we all anxiously await: the Obama administration delivered an enrollment update. Through the end of January, 3.3 million people had picked insurance plans in the exchanges, officials announced. And there’s been a slight uptick in interest from young adults — 27 percent of January enrollees were between 18 and 34 years old. But we still don’t know how many of the sign-ups have actually paid their premiums.

--If the end-of-March enrollment target is now 6 million (after the CBO recently lowered its forecast by 1 million), the administration is more than halfway there. But only six weeks remain and not all are optimistic. Pro’s Kyle Cheney and Jason Millman report: “Conservatives saw weakness in the numbers, which lag original administration projections from September, before all the technical problems with enrollment. At the time, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projected that 4.4 million people would have enrolled by the end of January.” The story: http://politi.co/1esPjcA And the HHS report: http://1.usa.gov/1fZvgoT

OBAMACARE CLEARS THE TOWER, FINALLY — The Obamacare rollout is changing in front of our eyes — turning from a running joke into one big shoulder shrug, POLITICO’s David Nather writes. Enrollment is still behind original expectations, but way ahead of the disaster scenarios that had looked possible last fall. More takeaways: http://politi.co/LVDgOt

ENROLLMENT VARIES CONSIDERABLY BY STATE — In a quick analysis of yesterday’s enrollment numbers, Avalere Health found that progress varies considerably by state. About 55 percent of those expected to enroll this season have signed up so far, but enrollment exceeds 60 percent in 15 states. And states using HealthCare.gov outpaced state-operated exchanges last month. The analysis: http://politico.pro/1fZJlCO

COUNTDOWN TO MARCH 31: 47 days.

Welcome to this wintery Thursday morning. I know we’re all feeling really sorry for Bob Costas and his poor eyes, so PULSE would like to extend a helping hand. Need us to fix you up with some Obamacare, Bob? We need you to get better fast so we can start enjoying the Olympics again.

“It’s the PULSE of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight.”

MILITARY PENSIONS WIN, MEDICARE LOSES — Lawmakers were so eager to undo cuts to military pensions yesterday that they overwhelmingly extended sequestration for another year, in part through multi-billion-dollar cuts to Medicare. Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn and Pro Defense’s Juana Summers report: “Democrats in particular have gone to great lengths to claim the title of defenders of Medicare since 2010, when Republicans accused them of cutting the program by more than $700 billion via the Affordable Care Act. But the politics of avoiding cuts to military retirees won out over the politics of Medicare as the Senate raced Wednesday to beat an East Coast snowstorm and recess.” http://politico.pro/1gvNKxQ

**At Philips, our mission is to create a company that makes a difference to you. We believe the way to achieve this is through innovation — making cities safer and people healthier. Others may focus on what innovation does; we focus on what it does for you. http://philips.to/LQb6EV

UNINSURED RATE FALLS — The share of uninsured Americans has fallen to 16 percent, from 17.1 percent in the last quarter of 2013, according to a new Gallup poll. But before you attribute that to the Affordable Care Act, we should note the same thing happened last January — the uninsured rate dipped to 16.3 percent before rising again throughout the year. That suggests there may be inherent variability in the rate or fluctuation due to sampling error. But if the uninsured continues to fall over the next several months, that could suggest the ACA is responsible for the decline. http://bit.ly/1dHTvFl

VALENTINE’S DAY WRINKLE — When the Obama administration announced that those who enroll in coverage past Valentine’s Day won’t be subject to a tax penalty, it didn’t explicitly include kids enrolling in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Jackson Hewitt has written a guide for families with eligible children laying out what to do now and what to expect. http://politico.pro/1omMy5l

URBAN: ACA’S WEALTH DISTRIBUTION IS MODEST — The health law will redistribute wealth to some extent — but not nearly as much as some people claim, the liberal-leaning Urban Institute finds. Expanded Medicaid and the insurance subsidies will equal 0.9 percent of GDP by 2019 — just a fraction of what the federal government will spend on Medicare (3.9 percent of GDP) or Social Security (5.6 percent), according to the study. How much will well-off Americans contribute to ACA funding? It will equal 0.2 percent of GDP. The study: http://urbn.is/NDiiFU

RACE FOR BILL YOUNG’S SEAT — A former banker who backs Obamacare is pitted against a smooth-talking former lobbyist in the special election for the late Florida Rep. Bill Young’s seat. It’s turned into a proxy battle among the national parties for bragging rights heading into November — and that, of course, means Obamacare is in play. Democrat Alex Sink has found herself on the defensive over her support of the law, over which Republicans are hammering her. The Chamber of Commerce has even started running an ad saying “300,000 Floridians will lose their health insurance because of Obamacare — and Alex Sink supported it. And she still does.” http://politico.pro/1g8LKgP

QUINN PROPOSES MEDICAID OVERHAUL — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn released a five-year plan yesterday to restructure his state’s Medicaid program in order to secure $5.2 billion more from the feds. The proposal would expand services like mental health and addiction treatment, community-based care for the disabled and consolidate programs that serve different categories of patients. But for it to work, federal regulators must approve a waiver. The Chicago Tribune story: http://bit.ly/1bpxCjV

E&C REPUBLICANS WRITE TO LEW — Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to turn over documents related to the latest employer mandate delay and any feedback provided to the agency about the decision. Also requested: documents showing the law’s costs on employers, its penalties for individuals and Treasury’s authority to postpone the mandate. The letter: http://1.usa.gov/MM3zaq

INSURANCE SUBSIDY TOOL — Check out a new tool that helps people figure out whether they’ll be eligible for insurance subsidies to buy marketplace plans, courtesy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Consumer Reports. The groups said they were prompted to develop it by research showing that nearly two thirds of the uninsured eligible didn’t know they could receive financial assistance this year. The tool: http://bit.ly/1lEvyoY

SENATORS WRITE TO FDA — The agency should explain the safeguards it has developed for pure hydrocodone products, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sens. Tom Coburn and Lamar Alexander wrote in a letter to the FDA yesterday. The senators expressed concern that there aren’t enough methods to prevent abuse of an extended-release pure hydrocodone product that was recently approved. The drug is often used as cough medicine.

WHAT WE’RE READING, By Jennifer Haberkorn:

Two House Republicans — Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland and Jack Kingston of Georgia -- are calling for the HHS inspector general to investigate the federal money used in Maryland's troubled health insurance exchange, the Baltimore Sun reports. http://bit.ly/1bOjKub

Consumers in 515 counties have only one insurer selling coverage through the health insurance marketplaces, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. http://on.wsj.com/MelkiM

In the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove says the Obama administration's delay of the employer mandate provisions are purely about avoiding difficult politics during the mid-term elections. http://on.wsj.com/1gwSKSV

In a new television ad, Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia of Florida goes to great lengths to talk about how hard he's working to "fix" Obamacare, the Miami Herald reports. http://bit.ly/1eRqi0Q

A New York State health agency is due to vote Thursday on a deal to turn over dialysis at four of the city's public hospitals to a for-profit franchise Big Apple Dialysis, despite data showing the company did not perform as well as the hospitals, the New York Times reports. http://nyti.ms/1bZOVGb

**At Philips, our mission is to create a company that makes a difference to you. We believe the way to achieve this is through innovation — making cities safer and people healthier. Others may focus on what innovation does; we focus on what it does for you. http://philips.to/LQb6EV

**At Philips, our mission is to create a company that makes a difference to you. We believe the way to achieve this is through innovation — making cities safer and people healthier. Others may focus on what innovation does; we focus on what it does for you. http://philips.to/LQb6EV